


Hunted

by F1_rabbit



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, F/F, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Supernatural Law Enforcement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-12
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2018-05-26 03:00:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6220918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F1_rabbit/pseuds/F1_rabbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jo works for the Supernatural Law Enforcement Unit, or SLE, but when a police officer is held hostage by werewolves, it looks like it might be the start of a war between humans and the Others.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hunted

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fasterthanthetardis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fasterthanthetardis/gifts).



 

The world had realised that there was more than just humans, there were things that many thought were nothing more than legends or fairy tales. But after the world wars, as the population grew, their hiding spaces disappeared and they were forced to come out of the shadows, and to integrate with humans.

At first it worked, people seemed happy with their existence. As long as they stayed in their own communities. Once the Others started to move about the unrest began, protests about them going to the same schools and using the same hospitals. That was when the marches and riots began.

There were years of the Others battling the legal system to get the same recognition as humans, and while the larger groups within the Others, such as the werewolves and the vampires, managed to get that, some of the smaller groups, although technically protected by the same laws, didn't feel that they'd got equal treatment.

After years of peaceful coexistence, human law enforcement realised they were ill equipped to deal with non-human crimes.

And that's when they hired people like Jo. Supernatural Law Enforcement Officer was her official title, but they were known as The Exterminators.

*

Jo strode through the crowds, head held high as she sipped at her latte, not even batting an eyelash at the fact people were screaming 'murderer' at her. It seemed to be a permanent fixture outside her office, and they showed no sign of losing interest any time soon.

She was team leader, although there was only four of them, so team was probably too grand a word. When Jo had started in this line of work, most of the people she knew worked alone, or in pairs, but never more than that. No-one had badges back then, and the boundary between taking out Others that were causing trouble and hunting them was a blurry one.

Then, people and Others alike, had demanded that there had to be some measure of accountability by those that were policing the Others. So few of the Others ever made it to trial, most were killed on sight, which was suspicious in and of itself.

Jo was never like that, even though the woman she used to work for, who trained her, called herself a hunter. Most called themselves exterminators and the name stuck, even when they were all forced to go legit, join the newly formed Supernatural Law Enforcement Unit, or retire. A lot picked the second option.

She'd embraced it all, she just wanted a world that was safe for everyone, human and Others alike. But it was going to take a while before everyone forgot about their history, and that was the way it should be, they shouldn't be allowed to go back to those ways.

"Morning Jo," Keva said, she was sitting at her desk, flicking through a file. Steph was checking her equipment was working and there was a satisfying click as her gun was reassembled. Although it was all unloaded in the office.

"Morning. Where's Marcia?" Jo asked, although she could guess the answer, punctuality was not her strong point, but she was the most dedicated and loyal person that Jo had worked with. It was also nice to have someone to talk to since Keva and Steph were close. They had worked together before the formation of the unit, and they were lovers, which went against department rules, but they'd refused to work if they were split up. And Keva and Steph were the sort of people that they wanted on their side.

"She overslept but she's on her way in now." Keva smiled and Jo shook her head, she expected nothing less, but it would give her a chance to finish up the paperwork from yesterday.

Marcia strolled in fifteen minutes later and headed straight for the coffee machine. _She must be desperate if she's willing to drink that stuff_ , Jo thought, which is why she always left enough time to get hers from the coffee shop around the corner.

"Morning." Jo smiled at Marcia but she got a grunt in return, she wouldn't be ready to talk to people until her coffee had kicked in.

Once her paperwork was done, Jo looked around at her team and wondered what they day had in store for them.

*

"Palmer! You've got a call out. Vampire's killed her girlfriend and is refusing to come out." Monisha's voice echoed around the office and the team wasted no time in grabbing their gear and heading for the car.

The address wasn't far away, a historic block of flats just on the edge of the city, nice area too. Steph drove and Jo pulled up all the information on their suspect while they were on their way.

Lucia Grey. Birthday – c. 23rd April 1883. No criminal record, and worked as a history teacher.

Jo shook her head, how could things have gone so wrong for her? She seemed to have a nice life, even though she was technically no longer one of the living. Why would she kill her girlfriend? They were going to find out soon.

Human law enforcement were already outside and they'd cordoned off the front of the building. From the masses of people standing around it looked like they'd cleared everyone out of their flats already. So all that was left to do was to go in and arrest the suspect.

"Everyone got their silver tipped bullets loaded?" Jo asked, they were an absolute last resort, but it was better to have them and not need them, than to need them and find out that there were only regular bullets in the gun.

"I've got the silver cuffs and restraints." Keva held them up, before clipping them onto her belt, it was already full with various items, although most of them would be on any officer's belt, whether they dealt with Others or not.

"The Exterminators are here!" Someone yelled, and a cheer went up from the crowd, mostly human from the look of them. Although they could be wolves or some other form of shapeshifter, no-one would know when they were back in their human form. Definitely no vampires though, they were easy to spot if people knew what to look for, even on a cloudy day they would wear sunglasses, cover their skin from the light as much as possible.

Jo strode up to the woman who appeared to be in charge. "SLE Unit. What's the situation?" Jo flashed her badge but she was sure that they'd know who they were, there were less than thirty of them for the whole city.

"Flat seven, she's refusing to come out, says she didn't mean to kill her."

"We'll sort it." Jo waved for the rest of the team to come. They made their way up to the flat, guns ready in case Lucia had decided to come out.

When they got there the door was ajar, and Jo knocked on the frame before announcing herself. "SLE Unit. We're here to help." Jo looked at her team before nodding, "We're coming in now."

They entered cautiously, guns lowered but ready and they saw Lucia in the corner of the living room, holding the body of her dead girlfriend.

"I didn't mean to kill her. Jane was going to leave me and I… I just snapped." Lucia stared crying, her eyes red with tears, locked on her girlfriend.

Jo put her gun away, glancing at the others to make sure that they had her back. She knelt down so that she was at the same height as Lucia, "I know you didn't mean to hurt her, and if you come with us, let us make sure that your girlfriend's wishes are respected."

"She wanted to be a vampire." Lucia brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face, before giving her a kiss on the forehead.

Jo nodded, and she took out what looked like an old mobile phone, it was their ID machine, it would check the prints against the database so they could see if Jane had left any preferences about what should happen to her after death. Jo hoped that Jane had a record, and that it clearly stated that she wanted to be a vampire, otherwise it would be left to the family, and Jo wasn't sure if Lucia would be happy with that.

She approached slowly, carefully taking the victim's finger and pressing it to the scanner. Jo held her breath while she waited for it to beep, and it brought up a record for Jane Richards, the picture matched, although her skin was now sallow and grey. And there were the magic words – _Wishes to be a vampire after death. Please contact Vampire Services. Dept Extension No. 1260_.

"I'm going to call Vampire Services and they're going to take care of Jane." Jo radioed in for them, they shouldn't take too long to get here, most of their work was done with the terminally ill or those who had decided in advance that they wanted to be a vampire.

"Can I stay with her?" Lucia asked, and Jo knew it would be easier just to say yes, if it meant that Lucia would come willingly.

Keva kept her gun in hand as Steph and Marcia went down to show Vampire Services the way, Jo was still kneeling on the floor, it seemed the easiest way.

The clunking of a stretcher being carried up the stairs drew closer and Jo's hand rested on her gun, now was the time that things could get dangerous, especially with two civilians, albeit vampire ones, now in the firing line.

But there was no need for her to worry. Once Jane was secure on the stretcher, Lucia nodded and Jo put the silver handcuffs on. There was no searing flesh or screams of pain, Lucia looked so human. The silver only suppressed her strength, but it didn't hurt her. Although even without that, they weren't significantly stronger than humans, but immortality did mean that they didn't have to worry about being injured in a fight.

"Steph's taken the car around the back," Marcia said, she put sunglasses on Lucia, and wrapped a scarf round her head, since it was still light outside.

There was no hassle taking Lucia out the fire exit of the block, and Jo radioed the police to say that it was safe to let everyone back into the block. It was all nice and easy, and Jo hoped that the rest of their day would go like this.

*

The rest of the day was minor things, nothing that really required four people to deal with it, but rules were rules. With only twenty minutes to go on their shift, Monisha rushed over to their desks with a worried look on her face.

"Chris, Captain Horner, she called and said one of her officers had been taken by werewolves. A domestic violence call that was a trap, and now they're holding her hostage, and she doesn't know where."

Jo compressed her lips, she'd heard of gangs of werewolves that were targeting law enforcement, but they didn't usually take hostages, although it would do no good to voice that now. Although they had an uneasy relationship with the police, even though they were meant to be on the same team, when it came to things like this, that was when they needed to band together, look out for each other. "When did the officer go missing?"

"Chris is sending you all the details." Monisha nodded, and Jo knew what she had to do.

She opened her e-mail and the files were waiting for her; Officer Kvyat's file, Dani, and her partner's report of what happened on the call out.

Dani had been top of her class as a rookie, several commendations and no complaints. If she was targeted directly it would have to be something to do with her personal life, but there was nothing there, no family here in this country, no special someone, not even pets.

The house that they'd been called to was empty now, by the time SLE were on the scene there was no sign of any Others, and no sign of Dani.

"There's no lead as to where they've taken Dani." Steph had been checking over all the photos from the location, hoping for something that would suggest where they might have gone, but there was nothing.

"They could be in any abandoned building or if they were being dumb, they could have taken her to one of their residences," Keva said, and if that was true, there was no way that they could search the entire city for her, they needed something to narrow the search.

"The owners of the house say that it was empty, that the rental agency hadn't found new tenants for it yet, so that's a dead end."

Jo nodded, time was ticking and she knew that if they didn't find Dani before sun rise, then they never would.

"Time to call the bearded lady?" Marcia smirked, but it faded when she saw the look on Jo's face.

"You mean, should we call Danielle, and ask if she's heard anything from her werewolf friends about them taking a police officer?" Jo knew it was a long shot, Danielle was in charge of a local pack, she didn't hang around with criminal types, but with the absence of any other leads, there was no-one else to ask. "I'll see what she knows. The rest of you, keep looking for a lead, anything that might help us save Dani."

"Yes boss." Keva smirked and Jo rolled her eyes, but they needed to keep their spirits up, since it was going to be a long one tonight.

*

The phone was ringing and ringing, and just as Jo thought it was going to voicemail, Danielle spoke, "Hi."

"How are the cubs doing?" Jo asked, she'd last seen Danielle a couple of months ago when she'd dropped off three cubs after their mother had died. The care system wasn't really equipped to deal with Others, so it was left to the individual groups to take care of abandoned and unwanted children.

"Just finished feeding them, they're hungry little buggers." Danielle laughed, and Jo didn't, there wasn't time for small talk. "How can I help, mate?"

"Police officer's been taken by werewolves, it was a trap. I was wondering if you'd heard anything."

"You know I don't have anything to do with that world." There was the sound of a little wolf crying in the background and Danielle started making comforting little noises, soft growls like a mother would for her cubs.

"I know, but I don't have any other leads… And if anything happens to her, there'll be a backlash, against all wolves."

"That's no change from usual, mate." Danielle wasn't smiling any more, and Jo could hear it in her voice.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called." Jo hadn't meant to cause her any pain, although they weren't friends, they had a mutual respect, they both wanted the same thing, peace between humans and the Others.

Danielle exhaled and Jo was sure that she was going to get a talking to, she was blunt to say the least. "There's a 'party' that some of the pack are going to tonight. I thought it was some sort of illegal rave but with what you've told me, you might want to check it out."

Jo scribbled down the address, an old abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by other factories and offices that would be empty at night. The sun was just setting and if they left now, they could be in and out before the onlookers arrived. Jo didn't want any more trouble than they had already.

*

"I've got an address, it might be nothing but we need all of the tranq guns." Jo threw Marcia the keys for the locker with them all in and she headed down to the basement to grab them.

They grabbed their armour, stab-proof and bite-proof, and strapped on their guns before heading to the car. Back up was on stand-by and Monisha would deploy them if they didn't check in every twenty minutes. Although a lot could go wrong in twenty minutes.

Jo had an extra set of armour, for Dani, it might be needed to get her out of there unharmed, and although she wasn't sure that Dani would still be alive, she had to plan for the best. It was what kept her going.

The drive was only eleven minutes, but Jo could feel every second passing with the throb of her heartbeat. As they got closer the team got quieter, focusing their minds and letting their instincts take over. It was for the best, thinking too much wouldn't help anyone now. They just had to get in, clear the building and rescue Dani, if she was here.

Marcia checked her gun, each cartridge contained fifty tranquilizer darts, and they all had spares. If they were going up against more than four hundred werewolves then it wouldn't matter what else they carried, they'd be mobbed before they could get to their handguns. But Jo was hoping it wouldn't come to that, from what Danielle had said there would only be a few people here, the rest were all coming later under the assumption that it was a party, a forensic counter measure no doubt, to hide whatever they planned to do with Dani.

"Keva, have you got the collars?" Jo asked. Werewolves and other were-animals were particularly difficult to arrest, as they could just shift into their other form and slip out of handcuffs. So that's when the collars were developed, it was like a handcuff that fitted around the neck, because in both human and wolf form the neck was a similar size, and they could be secured by a chain to structures, or officers.

"Of course." Keva held them up and they jangled as the car rocked over the bumpy road, the further out of the city they got the rougher the roads were.

Their car was unmarked, blue flashing lights concealed in the grill and the sun visors, so they could flip them down if they needed them. But there were no other cars around, which made theirs looks suspicious anyway. Jo just hoped that if anyone heard them, they would assume that they were party goers showing up early.

Because if they looked out of the windows, the second they saw them get out of the car fully clad in police armour and guns, that would be it. Game over.

*

Dani wasn't scared of dying on the job, but she was scared of what they would do to her before they killed her. They'd taken her radio, and her gun, but she still had her knife hidden away in her right boot. It wasn't regulation issue, but no-one had objected to her carrying it, so she did.

Her arms were restrained behind her back, using her own handcuffs, which was humiliating enough on its own, and they'd pulled a bag over her head while she was unconscious. She was bruised and her nose was throbbing where she'd been smacked in the face, she could taste blood in her mouth but there didn't seem to be any serious injuries, which was good.

Dani squirmed until she'd managed to bring her arms round to the front, she was glad for her long, lanky limbs now. Even though her arms were still cuffed it was much easier to grab her knife and slowly cut a hole in the sack over her head.

She managed not to cut herself, but she was disappointed to discover that she was in a dark room, the only light a thin strip under the door, and given that she could lie out and touch both walls, it was probably a cupboard with no windows. Dani shuffled closer to the light, trying not to let her handcuffs clink or make too much noise. At least she could see enough to pick the lock of the handcuffs, if they came back to get her, she was going to put up a fight.

*

Jo and her team crept into the abandoned factory, quiet even though there must have been someone around. The old factory floor, empty of any machinery now, was untouched, the thick layer of dust on the floor attesting to its lack of use as they left a trail of footprints through it.

Their tranquiliser guns were at the ready and the place was just too quiet for Jo's liking. All beings made noise, when they were alive. The temptation to yell out Dani's name was high but that would only alert the werewolves to their presence, if they were even here.

There was a row of small rooms at the far end of the factory floor, offices and changing rooms from the plans, and that was most likely where they would be holding Dani.

Jo nodded towards the rooms, being four of them it would mean two to check the rooms and two to stand guard. At times like this Jo was glad they were forced to work in teams of four.

They cleared each room in succession, all empty, and as they opened the door for the small closet Jo felt her heart sink, worried that this had all been a waste of time, when she heard a shuffling sound.

She signalled for the team to stand back, they didn't want to tranquilise Dani if they didn't have to, she would be more useful conscious. Jo pulled the door open and Dani leapt out, handcuff dangling from one wrist, the other part wrapped around her knuckles so that she could do some real damage when she punched someone. And in the other hand she had a knife, the tatters of a bag still wrapped around her neck.

Her eyes were wide and she got in a jab with the knife, cutting Jo's arm and the team stepped back out of her way, aiming their tranq guns on her.

"SLE Unit. We're here to rescue you." Jo pointed to the badge on her arm, they also had it written on their backs, but there was no way that she was turning her back on Dani while she was ready to attack. "Are there any Others in the building?"

"I don't know." Dani's voice trembled, it was the first sign that she was human rather than robot. "I haven't heard anyone apart from you all."

Dani lowered her knife and Jo grabbed the armour out of the rucksack. "Put this on. Just in case." Jo gave Dani a tranq gun and told her to stay close, she was still theirs to protect, police officer or not.

They kept their eyes open and Jo thought that they were going to be in and out without any hassle. It was the last coherent thought that she had for a while.

When they were ten metres from the main door, werewolves started piling in, already in wolf form, and the whooshing sound of the tranquiliser darts being fired was drowned out by the growling and whimpering of the werewolves as they went down. Jo signalled for everyone to run but the wolves had found a back door and were starting to surround them.

They were all firing, and Steph was trying to radio for back up when a wolf launched itself through the air, sleek black fur and bright white fangs glinting in the fluorescent lights. The wolf knocked Steph to the ground and they all fired at it, but it was too late, there was blood on Steph's hand, she'd taken her glove off to use the radio and now it was all over.

Keva pulled her gun without hesitation, and shot Steph in the face. That was the deal, that if either of them should get bitten, then they'd rather be shot than live as one of the Others.

Dani held her gun to Keva's head, as Marcia tranquilised the last of the wolves, but Keva didn't blink.

"Marcia get the collars on. Dani will help you." Jo glared at Dani as she tucked the gun into her armour. She could see the look of horror on Dani's face, she didn't understand, she never would.

When Jo started as a hunter, Simona had made her swear to the same thing, and Jo had agreed. Simona had promised to return the favour but the longer that Jo did this job, the less sure she was. It didn't seem like a bad life being an Other, it wasn't perfect, there were definitely issues facing their communities but she knew plenty of Others who had a good life.

Although there were now twenty-three werewolves lying out on the floor in an abandoned factory,  back in their human form and very naked, who weren't going to have such good lives. But setting a trap for law enforcement was going to incur a harsh punishment and it was going to be up to the courts what that was.

Back up stormed through the door just as Marcia and Dani had finished putting collars on all the werewolves. Jo was holding Keva as she stared at Steph's lifeless body, blood covering her hand and face, and a tear ran down Keva's cheek.

"You did the right thing." Jo nodded at Keva who hung her head, brushing a stray strand of hair from Steph's face, they'd have to deal with the fallout from this later.

"We got an anonymous tip a few minutes after you left the office," Monisha said, casting her eye over all the suspects.

"It was an ambush." Jo shook her head, they'd managed to tranquilise everyone, but this many werewolves being arrested was always going to cause a scene. Maybe that was their plan all along, not to kill them, but to create a fuss in the media.

"We'll take them in. When they come round, we'll find out what they know." Monisha gave an order and the SLE officers started collecting up the suspects, chaining their collars to the inside of their vans, as they were strapped in so that they could be taken to their holding cells. They were especially equipped for Others.

"Keva's going to take care of Steph," Jo said, she knew it seemed overly dramatic, but they were Steph's wishes. If she was killed in the line of duty, Keva was to take care of the arrangements, she didn't want the department to handle it.

Jo looked at Dani, she looked like she was about to faint, and she wasn't sure that Captain Horner and the others in the human police were going to be the best people to support her right now.

"I'll take Dani home, get her statement while it's all still fresh in her mind." Jo waited for Monisha to nod, it was a mess, but they had the experience with these things, so it was still technically their case.

Jo went over to Dani, putting an arm round her before leading her out of the building.

"She just shot her," Dani whispered, her eyes were still wide and she glanced at Keva nervously. "How could she do that?"

Jo held her tighter, as Keva carried Steph's limp body to the car, and for a horrible moment Jo thought that she was going to put her in the boot, but she was just putting her gear out of the way so that they'd all fit in the car.

Once the five of them were in the car, there was a strange atmosphere, a sombre mood.

"Steph's going to be pissed," Jo said, glancing at Steph in the rear view mirror as she drooled over Marcia's lap.

"I promised I would shoot without hesitation, but I didn't say what with." Keva knew that she should have respected Steph's wishes, but she couldn't bear to let her go, not without knowing if she was going to be affected first. If she changed at the full moon and didn't want to be a werewolf, then she would make good on her promise.

"I thought she was dead." Dani blinked in confusion, even though they were all law enforcement, they worked in very different worlds.

Keva held her hand out, and Dani twisted in her seat to see what she had. It was a tiny tranquiliser dart.

Dani let out a sob, the stress of the day catching up with her and Jo rested her hand on Dani's knee. "I thought she was dead." Shock had left her just repeating those words, unable to process it all.

"When Steph comes round, Keva's going to wish that was true." Marcia laughed, but her dark sense of humour only made Dani more nervous, holding onto Jo's hand. She'd have been a lot happier if Jo had both hands on the wheel but that was nothing to do with Jo's driving skills, Marcia just didn't like the fact that Dani was holding her hand, it didn't sit right with her.

"I'll tell Monisha that Steph's critically injured. That will buy us some time." Jo left the last bit unsaid, so that she didn't scare Dani. But the plan also had the nice advantage of covering up Steph's death, if that was ultimately what she wanted. All Jo could do now was cross her fingers and hope that Steph was still human.

*

They pulled up outside a small abandoned looking town house, and Jo could see that Dani was already trying to work out if she'd just been taken hostage by a different group of people.

"It's Keva and Steph's place, it used to be their base of operations when they were still hunters." Jo hoped that was explanation enough.

Marcia helped Keva get Steph inside and Jo grabbed their kit from the car, Dani trailing behind her, she still had the remains of the sack around her neck and now they were inside, with better lighting, Jo could see that Dani had been roughed up quite a bit.

Jo stood by, tranq gun in hand, while Marcia and Keva got Steph into the cage. They'd stripped her out of her gear, leaving Steph in her underwear as she made groggy noises, the tranquiliser was wearing off.

Keva cleaned her wounds, before stepping out and locking it behind her, leaving Steph lying on the floor, arms flailing as she started to move.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up," Jo said to Dani. Marcia nodded and Jo led the way to the makeshift first aid room that Keva and Steph had. It was barely big enough for a bed, but it had been enough for them when they were hunters.

Jo handed Dani a large evidence bag. "We're going to need your clothes for evidence." Dani nodded and retreated into the little room. Jo could hear the clunk as the armour was removed, it should have helped preserve the evidence, and after a few minutes Dani peered round the door to say she was done.

Dani didn't seem bothered that she was in just her underwear, knickers and a sports bra, practical choices. But then Jo spotted something that should concern her, a bite mark.

Jo pulled her gun without hesitation, and Dani reached for where her gun would have been, but there was nothing.

"Please don't kill me," Dani sounded so young when she said that, and Jo was torn, she didn't know Dani well enough to know what she wanted done in this situation. She looked so human, and Jo put her gun away before holding her hands up in apology.

"We should get that cleaned up, minimise the chance that you'll turn into a wolf." Jo said it quietly, not wanting the others to hear, just in case they got ideas. Dani's eyes were wide and she was on alert, flinching every time Jo touched her.

Jo put near boiling water over the bite, before smothering it with antiseptic cream that had silver iodide in it. No-one knew if it was the antiseptic properties or the silver itself that reduced the chances of a bite victim turning into a wolf. A bit of gauze and tape later, and it was all patched up, when Jo spotted blood on Dani's inner thigh. Jo moved her leg to look at it and Dani flinched but not before Jo caught a glimpse of the white wing of a sanitary towel.

"Sorry." Jo pulled out a hoodie and joggers from her kit bag and handed them to Dani. "Bathroom's across the hall, there's towels in the little cupboard under the sink."

Dani blushed and scurried out of the room, she looked on alert and Jo went to stand outside the door. She still had to get her account of what happened, and Dani couldn't be left alone in this state, this was when a lot of people decided that life as an Other wasn't worth it. And given that Dani's job would be gone if she wasn't human, she was more at risk than a lot of people after they were attacked.

"You don't have to guard me." Dani appeared in Jo's clothes, they weren't too bad a fit since they were a similar height but Dani was much slimmer than Jo. It made her look even younger and Jo felt even guiltier about what had happened to her.

Jo was about to say, 'I just need to check on the others and then I'll take you home,' when there was screaming coming from the lower level of the house. They ran down towards the noise and as Jo got closer she could hear what was being said as clear as if they were in the room.

"You fucking lied to me! You promised you would shoot. You know that I would rather be dead than live as an Other!" Steph was rattling at the bars of the cage but it was futile, it was designed to hold vampires, werewolves and whatever Others they'd captured. Although if the rumours were true, there weren't many that were taken in alive.

"I couldn't bear to lose you, I'd rather have you as a werewolf than not at all." Keva's voice sounded so quiet compared to Steph's and she was standing by the bars, trying to put a hand out to comfort Steph but she just tried to bite Keva.

"It wasn't your decision to make!" Steph started screaming again, pulling at the bars but now it wasn't to try and escape, it was to make Keva feel as guilty as possible.

"I'm sorry." A single tear rolled down Keva's cheek and she wiped it away. "There's sixteen days to the full moon, if you change, and you still want to die, then I'll do it."

Keva walked out of the room, Steph screaming and swearing as she left and Marcia made herself comfy in the chair, someone should watch Steph. Even though she was in her underwear in an empty cage, Jo wouldn't put it past her to find a way to end it all, she was very resourceful.

Jo pulled her gun and tranquilised Steph, picking up the key from where Keva had left in on the desk, as Marcia glared at her.

"Why did you do that? She was fine in the cage." Marcia folded her arms and compressed her lips, she was furious, but she'd never let it show.

"The underwire in her bra, she could use it to pick the lock, or worse…" Jo opened the cage, Steph was barely conscious on the floor and she unclipped her bra before throwing a blanket over her. "Double check with Keva that she doesn't have any other plan B's stashed away before she comes round. I'm going to take Dani home."

"Fine."

Jo glared at her, it had been a long day, and she wasn't sure she could hold everyone's hand right now.

"Fine. Sir." Marcia snapped her heels and saluted, Jo let out a deep breath but she didn't want a fight, even though Marcia appeared to be spoiling for one.

"Night Marcia."

*

Dani was shaking by the time they got back to the car, and Jo made a show of locking all her weapons in the boot. There were others in the car, but Dani didn't need to know that.

Jo had asked where Dani lived, and she burst into tears, mumbling things that were muffled by her sobs as Jo held her until she was calm. "My block doesn't allow Others, I'm homeless." She stared at Jo. "What am I going to do?" Tears were still streaming down her face and Jo didn't know what to do, there was no support for people who might be an Other, not until they actually were one. She thought about calling Danielle, but she knew that she had an uneasy relationship with the police, so it might not be the best place to leave Dani right now. And there weren't a lot of alternatives.

"You can stay at mine, I'll get Monisha to sort it so you're on leave for a few weeks. After your ordeal." Jo held Dani tight, she'd stopped trembling and her body seemed less tense. Sorting the time off wasn't going to be a big deal, it was mandatory after a situation like this, and Dani would have to be cleared as fit for duty before she could go back to work anyway.

"Thank you." Dani sniffed and Jo offered her a tissue. They drove in silence all the way to Dani's flat, and Jo helped her pack, telling her roommate that she was going to stay with a friend for a while. Which they seemed to believe, although from the uniform they were police too, so they'd have heard what happened to her.

Jo ignored the raised eyebrow. SLE and police had an uneasy relationship at best, and as they were leaving Dani's flatmate warned her, "Sleep with one eye open," which was disconcerting. And given what Dani had been through today, only fuelling her fears that she would be ostracised if she turned out to be an Other. Not that it was mentioned. The only thing worse than having SLE wandering around the flat, would be them knowing that Dani could be an Other.

Dani didn't have a lot of possessions, and it made it easy for her to clear out her small room, barely big enough for a single bed and a wardrobe. The spare room at Jo's was going to be luxurious for her.

*

Jo had ordered pizza, it was late and that was the easy option. Food had relaxed Dani and Jo had managed to get her statement about what happened to her, she'd started out treating her like any other victim but Dani had been defensive, and it wasn't until she'd treated her like a colleague that Jo had managed to get somewhere.

But the information from Dani didn't answer the big question – why?

Dani had no links to Others, no real links to anyone and her flatmate made it clear when they were there that they weren't friends. She was partnered with a rookie at work which was why she was so easy to take hostage.

Most of her injuries were superficial, bruises and cuts, but the bite, that could have a lot of long-term implications and they hadn't talked about it yet. Dani yawned and Jo knew that it would wait for the morning.

Jo secured her gun, she had a lock-box at home specifically for it, although she kept her tranq gun out. It was rare, but on occasion the newly bitten had transformed before the first full moon. The last thing Jo wanted was to wake up in the middle of the night and have to deal with a wolf.

Dani slinked into the spare room and Jo heard the door lock, which was for the best, she was going to lock the front door so that Dani couldn't run out in the night. Jo felt responsible for her now, and that meant protecting her from everyone, including herself.

Once the flat was quiet, Jo picked up her phone and called Danielle. She answered immediately.

"Did you find the officer?" Danielle sounded worried, which was a change from her normal, laid-back personality.

"Yes. But we had to arrest a lot of wolves." Jo knew that they were all going to be charged with attacking law enforcement, which wouldn't sit well with the community. Although there were laws against trespassing in abandoned buildings, they were the sort that got you a slap on the wrist, a fine or community service. But these wolves were looking at jail. And yet they'd all said that they thought they were going to a party, but when they saw the Exterminators they assumed that it was a trap for them.

It was a mess.

"Do you know why she was taken?" Danielle asked, and Jo heard a tiny howl in the background, one of the cubs must have been woken by the phone.

"No. And from the looks of it, those who took her weren't the ones that we arrested, which isn't helpful." Jo shook her head, she wanted to tell Danielle about the bite, but it wasn't her place to say, that was something Dani would have to decide if she wanted people to know.

And she wasn't even sure what to feel about the mess with Steph, she could see why Keva did what she did, but she understood why Steph was angry. Even though 'mercy killings' were on the brink of being illegal, there were quite a few people, law enforcement and otherwise, that had agreements like Keva and Steph did.

Jo understood why the Others wanted an end to mercy killings, it sent the wrong message about their communities, that they were monsters that needed to be exterminated rather beings that were just trying the best to live their lives in difficult circumstances. It had been going through the courts for a while and Jo was sure that it would come into force, and that it would be a good thing. As long as there was additional support for those who were unfortunate enough to end up an Other against their will, so that they would be able to find acceptance in their new lives.

Danielle hadn't said anything in a while and Jo had been lost in her thoughts. "Danielle, what's wrong?"

"There's been trouble with the local schools, they don't want our cubs going there."

"I'm sorry. I'll stop round tomorrow, hopefully we can figure out something." Jo couldn't believe it, schools weren't allowed to be segregated, but that hadn't stopped them finding new ways to make sure that it was difficult for Others to access education.

"Thanks mate." There was another little howl and Danielle made her apologies, leaving Jo to slink into the shower, washing away the grime of the day and letting the water soothe her aching muscles.

By the time she got back into bed, she was so drained that she was asleep before her head had even hit the pillow.

*

Marcia traipsed home as the sun came up, it was agreed that she'd be back later to help Keva out with looking after Steph, but she needed to sleep after more than twenty-four hours on her feet and since she was going home to pick a few things up, she might as well sleep in her own bed.

She checked her phone and there were no messages, not even from Jo. That hurt. She knew that what happened yesterday was all part of the job, but Steph being bitten, that was out of the ordinary, and with Steph and Keva being so close, it was a big blow to their team.

They were all on leave after it, although Jo would have to go in and do the paperwork, since she was team leader. And she was meant to be looking out for her team, but she was too busy looking after Dani.

A wave of jealousy reared its head but Marcia was too tired to do anything about it, she curled up in bed, wondering if this would be the end of her nice, comfortable life. Keva and Steph were her best friends, and Jo, well, she'd hoped that one day Jo and her would be more than friends. Even though there was a no dating at work rule, she felt like they had something deeper. But obviously she was wrong.

*

Keva lay out on the cold stone floor, she didn't want leave Steph. When she'd pulled her spare tranq gun instead of her actual gun, she'd thought that it was a great solution, give her some time to cool off and have a think about her situation. But that didn't appear to be the case. If anything Steph seemed even angrier now, since she was angry about possibly being an Other and she was furious at Keva for not respecting her wishes.

When she'd promised to do it, so many years ago, it was a different world, but now, she just wanted Steph to live, it didn't matter if she was human or wolf.

And she had sixteen days to get that through her thick skull, or she was going to have the same difficult decision to make.

***

A week passed and everything settled into a strange routine, Dani helped Jo with watching Steph, and between them all they made sure there was always someone about for Steph. Although she'd shown no sign of changing her mind about not wanting to live as one of the Others.

Which was a pity, as only a few days ago the courts had decided that any mercy killings would now be considered murder, no matter what an individual's wishes were. For the time being SLE and local communities of Others were going to make sure that all newly converted Others were cared for, until a more permanent plan could be put in place.

It also mean that it Keva kept her promise, if Steph changed at the full moon and still wanted to die, she'd be going to jail. And with each passing day Keva was starting to fear the worst.

"She's getting more depressed, but I'm scared to let her out the cage." Keva had bags under her eyes, she clearly hadn't slept well in a long time. Jo brought her in for a hug while Dani watched Steph, she was asleep when they arrived, although from the way she was slumped on the floor, Jo assumed that Keva had tranquilised her.

"Do you think talking to someone who was a werewolf would help?" Jo knew that Danielle would do it as a favour to her, but only if Keva thought it was a good idea, she didn't want to just upset Steph more.

"She's just so angry." Keva bit her lip as she looked at Jo's hands, unable to look her in the eye.

"We'll get her through it." Jo gave her another hug when Marcia burst in, she was taking over after Jo and Dani were done watching Steph.

Marcia didn't even say hi, she just shoved her way through to the stairs, heading down to the holding cage to see Steph.

"What's wrong with her?" Jo asked, and Keva just shook her head, she was so wrapped up in her own pain that she hadn't thought about how the others were coping with it. But they weren't the ones about to lose everything that was dear to them.

*

"Are you sure that you want to do this?" Jo asked, she was driving Dani over to Danielle's place, she'd agreed to talk to her about what might happen, so that she could be prepared for every eventuality. Dani did seem to be handling it all well, but Jo didn't know if that was just in comparison to Steph.

"Yes, if it's going to happen then I want to be ready for it." Dani folded her hands on her lap and the rest of the journey was silent. Even though Jo had got to know Dani quite well over the last week, she wasn't sure how much of it was an act, Dani putting a brave face on it.

When they got to Danielle's place they found that the door was ajar, and Jo reached for where her gun would be if she was on duty out of instinct.

"Danielle?" Jo said, trying not to be too loud in case the cubs were sleeping. She crept into Danielle's flat, motioning for Dani to close the door behind them, the last thing they needed was to spend the afternoon looking for a lost cub.

They'd only taken a few steps when a large wolf with sleek black fur trotted out, carrying a cub in her mouth. Dani jumped back in fear but Jo took her hand, she didn't want Dani to do anything to hurt Danielle, or the little ones.

Jo followed Danielle through to the living room and she dropped the cub into a puppy pen, with its siblings. The little ones played and nipped with each other and Danielle turned back into her human form.

Dani was trying not to stare but she couldn't seem to drag them away. Danielle was naked, so very naked and acting like it wasn't a big deal as she wandered over to hug Jo. She was lean and athletic, her muscles rippling as she moved, and she was hairy, but no hairier than a human woman who didn't shave. Dani noticed the dark hair around her nipples, and the trail all the way down to her…

 _I'm a grown woman, and I'm not even sure I can even think the word_. Dani caught a glimpse of her lips poking out from the hair and that was when she realised that she'd been staring.

"Not comfortable with nudity?" Danielle asked, and now that she was standing so close she could see the dark hairs around her mouth and along her chin. She was sure that when Keva talked about the bearded lady she meant Danielle, and yet she was stunningly beautiful, with an amazing smile.

Danielle threw on a summer dress, twisting her long dark curls out of the way. Her eyes glowed, they were a warm brown, like a flame was flickering behind them.

"Any luck with the school?" Danielle offered them a biscuit which they both declined. "Linda's starting to get worried about her little ones."

"Who's Linda?" Dani asked, before wondering why she cared.

"She one of the mums that's going to be affected, litter of eight." Danielle shook her head, she was having a hard time dealing with the three. "She was coaching the football team, and she was on the PTA, but now the school is being funny about having werewolves near the _human_ children."

"Eight children?" Dani let out a short, sharp breath, and raised her eyebrow.

"Eight _cubs_. But yes, she's superwoman." Danielle smiled and Dani felt relief. She hadn't meant to say the wrong word, and she was relieved that Danielle didn't take it badly, but she noted it all away so that she wouldn't make the same mistake again.

A little alarm went off and the cubs all leapt up, clamouring against the metal railings as they wagged their tails, little yips of delight as they watched Danielle wander off. There was the sound of the fridge opening and closing, followed by the ping of a microwave.

The cubs were drooling by the time Danielle returned with three baby bottles, the rubber tips well-chewed already. She handed Jo a bottle, and held one out to Dani who hesitated at first but then she took it.

Danielle picked up a cub, making soft little growls to calm it, before handing it to Dani. The cub yipped and licked her face, resting a paw on her shoulder as she tried to offer it the bottle.

"What's your name little one?" Dani scratched behind its ear and it nipped at her wrist, warm brown eyes shining out at her.

"That's Carla." Danielle nuzzled against her neck as she handed a cub to Jo. "And this is Maxine."

"I think she likes you," Jo said, as little Maxine sucked on the bottle, whimpering as she fed.

"And this shy one is Alex." There was a little bark, and she cuddled into Danielle, waiting for her food.

There was nothing but little growls as they ate. Dani felt calmer having the soft fur pressed against her as Carla snuggled into her, eating quickly as her eyelids started to droop and when the food was all gone she curled up in Dani's arms. Carla's soft snores were adorable and Dani found herself staring at her as she slept.

"Come here little one." Danielle scooped up Carla, having put Maxine and Alex back in their pen already. Dani pouted as Carla was taken away, she was so warm and comfy. And for the first time in a while she'd actually felt calm, true peace.

"So, why are you here? I assume it's got something to do with your bite mark?" Danielle looked at Dani's shoulder, and she saw that Carla had knocked her top while clamouring over her.

Dani pulled her top up, wrapping her arms around her but it was too late, Danielle had already seen the bite.

"We cleaned it, but I know that's no guarantee." Jo looked at Dani, waiting for her to say something but when she was silent Jo carried on talking. "There's a full moon in nine days, and then we'll know."

"What do you do?" Danielle asked, and Jo realised that she'd forgotten to say who Dani was.

"I'm a police officer. If I'm still human." Dani hadn't said it out loud yet, and hearing the words rather than thinking them made her realise how much she stood to lose if she turned furry at the next full moon.

"Oh." Danielle's smile was gone and she went straight into big sister mode. She fired off lots of questions, most of which Dani could only answer 'I don't know' to.

It was all making her worry more, how would her family take it? She didn't have any friends so she didn't have to worry about how they'd take it. But her work, that would be game over.

Jo had said that she could live with her until she got back on her feet, if she needed to. Which was nice, but it wasn't what she wanted, she wanted to be her own independent woman.

"How do you feel about being a werewolf?" Danielle asked, and Dani just shook her head, as though she was dismissing the idea, trying to push it away.

"Scared."

*

Jo had brought Dani home not long after that, she didn't want her freaking out, she still had time to take everything in, deal with it at a slower pace.

They were sat on the sofa and Dani looked like she was on the brink of tears. "I'm going to lose everything."

Jo gave her a hug, holding her tight until she felt Dani take a deep breath. "As awful as it is, we just have to wait and see."

"Danielle, and the cubs, their eyes all glowed. And when I looked in the mirror, my eyes, they're bright."

Jo put a hand either side of Dani's face, peering into her eyes. "They look the same. They're lovely eyes."

Dani blushed and Jo gave her a kiss on the cheek. If only it was that simple, scientists had spent years trying to see if there was something in the blood that could tell if people were infected before their first transformation, but the simple fact was, that people were human, right up until they weren't.

"You should get some sleep. It's been a busy day." Jo brushed a stray strand of hair out of Dani's face and she smiled.

"Would you hold me to sleep?" Dani wasn't sure that they knew each other well enough for her to be asking this, but she just didn't want to be alone. Holding little Carla had made her realise how much she missed physical contact of any kind. She wondered if she should get a dog, before remembering that she might actually be one.

Dani took Jo's hand and led the way to the bedroom, both of them curling up, just glad to have the comfort of a friend.

*

Marcia had spent hours listening to Steph scream about how she wanted to die rather than live as an Other. Keva had put on her headphones and drowned it all out, rather than tranquilise Steph again. Marcia was starting to wonder if it was going to have negative side effects in large doses. At this rate Steph shouldn't be worrying about being an Other, she should be worrying about overdosing.

By the end of her shift, she just needed comfort, from a friend. She grabbed her things and headed to Jo's, with Keva and Steph going through such a tough time she'd lost two thirds of her friends in one tragic quirk of fate. Not that she was the kind of person to point it out, but it had been hard struggling through it all alone, supporting others without having any support for herself.

As she strolled up to Jo's flat she had a smile on her face, it would be good to see her away from all the chaos at Keva and Steph's place. She caught a glimpse of Jo sitting on the sofa through the window, staring into Dani's eyes before giving her a kiss. Marcia was frozen, her blood running cold as she watched Dani lead her to the bedroom.

Marcia ran home, tears streaming down her face, stinging at her face as the wind whipped round, the chill in the air hinting that winter was on its way.

She cried herself to sleep, feeling silly for caring about this when there were so many more important things that she should be upset about right now. But her soul was in pain, and tears were the only thing that could ease her suffering.

***

Jo was in work, and the pain of not being able to investigate Dani's case was real. She'd left Dani at Danielle's for the day, Dani could do with the company, as the full moon drew closer she seemed increasingly agitated and Jo was worried that she might do something to hurt herself, so having Danielle take care of her was a good option. And Danielle could do with an extra pair of hands, so it was a way of letting Dani go over without feeling like a charity case.

"Any new leads?" Jo asked Monisha, she was desperate for a break in the case. Dani had confirmed that none of the wolves that they'd rounded up when they rescued her were the ones that took her, once they were back in their human forms.

"No." Monisha looked at her hands and Jo started to worry.

"But…"

"There's been a lot more hate crime since the incident."

Jo's mind reeled with all of it, who would take a police officer just to send the werewolves in? She flicked through some of the latest cases, each one humans pitted against Others, all with anonymous tips called in to alert SLE so they could be on site to make sure things escalated.

And some of them had escalated badly. There were no deaths yet, but at this rate it was only a matter of time.

"Tell everyone to use non-lethal methods only."

"Going soft on us?" Monisha laughed, but there was a nervous edge to it. Things had definitely been getting out of hand lately. And without the best team working, it was all going to bubble over, with disastrous results.

"Something's going on, someone's planning this, they want a war between humans and Others. I don't want to give it to them." Jo gathered up the files, shoving them into her bag as Monisha looked the other way.

"How's Steph?" Monisha must have figured it out by this point, that Steph's injury wasn't something that could be fixed by a hospital. The fact that Keva had deliberately withheld what hospital she was at, and told everyone not to visit, saying that she wouldn't want people to see her like that.

"We just have to wait and see." Jo rested her hand on Monisha's arm, glancing at her, an unspoken promise that she'd solve this, put an end to it all. Before things got really chaotic.

*

The cubs were all excited to see Dani and Carla had ran up to her the minute she was in the door. Dani crouched down to pet her, glad that someone was happy to see her. It felt like everywhere she went, she was unwanted, a burden. Marcia was downright hostile towards her, although you didn't end up an Exterminator without hating Others. And Keva was just unhappy around everyone, Dani couldn't imagine what she was going through, although she didn't understand why Steph was so angry about the idea of being an Other. It was awful that she'd been attacked, but she still had a life, and she could have a good life. Especially considering how many people were around to support her.

Dani would love to have that sort of support, but now she was holding little Carla in her hands, she realised that it would be alright, no matter what happened in four days' time. Possibly even three, since the day before the full moon was sometimes enough to trigger the transformation.

"You're a natural with the little ones." Danielle was holding Maxine, and she was a lot quieter than she was last time Dani had visited. "This one's not well, she's gone off her food."

Dani caught herself just in time, she was sure asking Danielle about taking her to the vets wouldn't go down well. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Yeah, the doctor's been out to see her. Thinks it's a bad reaction to one of her vaccinations, but she'll be fine in a couple of days."

"That's good." Dani was holding one end of a chew toy that Carla was pulling on and Alex had brought her a ball for her to throw.

"Let's take this to the garden so we don't have any more ball related accidents." Danielle laughed and Dani wondered how much destruction three cubs could do in an average semi-detached house.

The garden was a nice size and Danielle brought out a water dish with ice in it for the cubs, and two glasses of lemonade for them. It tasted like it was homemade and Dani found herself gulping it down, it was so wonderfully cool and refreshing with the heat today, her bra was already drenched with sweat and she was regretting wearing her jeans. Danielle's choice of a summer dress, and nothing else from the looks of it, seemed like heaven.

She threw the ball until the little ones got tired, Maxine was still curled up in Danielle's arms, yawning as her sisters lay out in the shade.

"Do you want to spend the full moon with the pack?" Danielle asked, her voice low and soft as though she was talking to one of the cubs.

"No. I don't know what will happen, I'd hate if I hurt anyone." Dani fidgeted with her hair, she'd already decided what she was going to do. "Jo's friends have a cage in their house, from when they were…" Dani didn't need to say hunter, it wasn't that long ago that it was just the way things were done. And now they were talking about allowing Others to serve as police officers, and with the Supernatural Law Enforcement Unit.

Danielle nodded, trying to keep the disgust off her face at the idea of a cage. "The offer stands, and no matter what happens, you're always welcome here."

Dani nodded, only a few weeks ago she'd thought of Others as somehow less than human, second class citizens, but seeing Danielle and the cubs had made her realise that they were no different.

And that was when it dawned on her, why she'd been taken, and what they were trying to do. "I have to go, I think I've solved the case." Dani gave her a kiss on the cheek before rushing out the door, making sure it was closed behind her, so the cubs wouldn't escape.

*

Jo had got a garbled message from Dani, asking her to come to Keva and Steph's straight away. She was heading there now and Jo was hoping that she'd be there before Dani was, Marcia seemed downright aggressive towards her but she couldn't figure out why. It was a stressful time for everyone, but that was no reason to be taking it out on other people.

She was just in the door when she heard screaming coming from the basement, it was clearly Marcia and Dani arguing, with Keva threatening to tranq them if they didn't stop it.

Jo went in, cautious in case there were other people there, she was paranoid by nature, but now that there was someone out trying to start a war, she was on alert all the time.

"What's happened?" Jo asked, and everyone stopped to stare at her.

"Ask your girlfriend." Marcia spat, she glared at Dani and Jo tilted her head, confused as to what was going on.

"Marcia, I think I know what's going on, but I need to work out who's behind it. So, tell me what's going on so that we can get it over with and solve this case." Jo folded her arms, she didn't meant to sound so blunt, but if this situation got out of hand, the fact that Steph and Dani had been bitten would pale in significance.

"So you're dating _her_?" Marcia pointed and Dani looked like she was going to punch her in the face if it wasn't for Keva standing with her tranq gun pointed at them both.

"No. Next question." Jo wasn't in the mood for this, but the bit of her brain that wasn't in work mode was thinking, _why does Marcia care who I date?_

"What's your lead?" Dani asked, she was in work mode too, and from the covering of fur on her t-shirt, she'd had fun at Danielle's.

"There's been a spike in hate crimes, all of which had anonymous tips called in to make sure SLE were there." Jo moved her hands millimetres at a time, she didn't want to startle anyone, and she was no use to anyone unconscious.

She held the files up, all emblazoned with SLE's logo, and crept across to the table, laying them out as the others wandered across. Jo heard the click as Keva put the safety on her gun, and she felt the tension in the air dissipate.

Jo laid the files out in order, starting with Dani's abduction, and ending with a case where SLE had been called down to the harbour after a tip-off that the mer-people were involved in drug smuggling. There were no drugs recovered, and the mer-people had showed up to the harbour after being told that one of their own had been caught in a fishing net and was in need of help. But there was no evidence of that either.

The rest of the incidents were similar in nature, Others pitted against SLE but so far there hadn't been any deaths, or serious injuries. The werewolves that had attacked them while rescuing Dani had all been released, as none of them could be linked to Dani's kidnapping and arresting all of them, when they all had the same story, that they were going to a party and then when they saw the Exterminators, they'd assumed that it was a trap.  

Since Steph and Dani hadn't reported their bites, there was no way of charging anyone with it, although all the evidence was on record if they wanted to file charges later. And arresting all of the wolves would have started a war right then and there.

"Do you trace the anonymous calls?" Dani asked, and Marcia glared at her.

Jo wasn't sure, most of the leads that came in went nowhere, just people not happy that there were Others in the world.

"I'll check." Keva grabbed a laptop and started typing away while the three of them tried to work out what the pattern was with the attacks.

"Do you have a map?" Dani asked, and Jo shook her head, handing Dani her tablet instead.

Dani peered at the files before plotting them all out on the map, they covered a small area of the city, the centre, which was the bit where SLE Unit had jurisdiction. Everywhere else the local human law enforcement had to call them in.

"They are deliberately targeting SLE." Dani compressed her lips, she still wasn't sure what the implications of this was.

"Why?" Marcia said, to no-one in particular.

"There's been talks about letting Others serve as police officers, but if there were riots, that would put an end to it." Dani scratched at her bite subconsciously. She'd pushed all those thoughts out of her mind but now, with only a few days to go, she was going to have to start thinking about her future. Especially since her leave was up in five days, and she would have to be cleared fit for duty or quit.

"Why didn't I know that?" Jo tried to keep up to date with all the politics, but there was so much going on, that sometimes things got missed. Although she'd expected there to be more resistance to change, but it was time that Others were allowed to do the job, help protect their communities. "Are there any major groups or campaigners that are opposed to this change?"

"Some of the people on the force said that they wouldn't have an Other as their partner, but there's been nothing organised, no-one's stood out from the crowd." Dani wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, there was a general feeling of distrust and even hate towards Others in the station that it wasn't really much of a change.

"Your flatmate, she had a _Humans First_ poster in her room. Is she one of them?" Jo had got a glimpse of it, but at the time, keeping Dani safe was her priority.

"I don't know, we never really talked."

"I think we should go have a word with her. It seems like something they would do." Jo nodded to Marcia, there were things that Dani probably shouldn't see. Especially since they were all technically on leave. "Keva are you okay here watching Steph for the night?"

"Sure." Keva wrapped her arms around herself as the others shuffled out. Once she heard the door shut, its lock automatically clicking into place, she slumped onto the floor by the cage, staring at Steph's sleeping body. She'd thought that Steph would have come round to the idea now, but she was refusing to leave the cage until she knew if she was an Other, and that broke Keva's heart.

"I would love you no matter what you were," Keva whispered, as tears ran down her face, she couldn't bottle it up any longer, and as the full moon got closer, she didn't know what to hope for, or if she had any hope left.

*

The ride over to Dani's old place was strange, Jo wanted to ask Marcia what was going on, what had made her lash out at Dani like that, but she couldn't find the words. They just had to solve this case, and then everything would go back to normal. Except it wouldn't.

It wasn't too late when they pulled up outside the block of flats, but the place was eerily quiet and the sound of their boots echoed around the stairway in an ominous fashion.

"Tanya?" Jo had knocked quietly but there was no answer. She put her hand on her tranq gun, it was fine for use on humans and Others alike, only the vampires were immune to it. They didn't want any deaths, it would only fuel the fire of the impending riots.

Jo tried the handle, just out of habit rather than actually expecting to find it unlocked and when the door creaked open, Jo knew that something was wrong. The door had three locks and none of them had been used, which for a police officer and a _Humans First_ sympathiser, that was a surprise.

"Tanya?" The unmistakable stench of death hung in the air, and Marcia pulled her jumper up to cover her nose and mouth.

The lights were still on, whoever had done this wasn't worried about being seen, and the posters which linked Tanya to them had been taken down. So it was _Humans First_ that were behind all of this, and they'd managed to infiltrate the police, although that wasn't a surprise. Technically those who were part of extremist groups, on any side, were exempt from service, but there seemed to be a lot of anti-Others sentiments within law enforcement.

Her body was lying across the bed, she looked as though she was sleeping but the grey tint to her skin, and the bruises around her neck said it all. Jo felt for a pulse, just in case, but there was nothing.

"Strangled, forensics should be able to get fingerprints off the body." Jo wanted to cover her up, it seemed wrong to leave her naked and exposed, but she didn't want to disturb the crime scene, any evidence they could gather would be invaluable, and if it put an end to it all before there were riots in the street, then it would be worth it. "I'll radio it in, don't touch anything else."

They waited outside until Monisha showed up with forensics, she knew that Jo was investigating the case even when she shouldn't be, but at least Jo had a cover story, they'd come to get the rest of Dani's things. Although Jo wasn't sure if Dani had any more possessions than the meagre amount of clothes and books that Dani had brought to her flat.

"Keva traced all the anonymous tips to Tanya, she thought she'd been clever by using a pay as you go mobile, but she paid for it using her credit card." Monisha shook her head. "Captain Horner's going to have a fit when she realises one of her officers was a member of _Humans First_."

"Are you sure she's not in on it?" Jo asked. She kept her voice low, it wasn't something that she wanted the other officers to hear, and if Captain Horner found out about it, she could make her life very difficult.

"She's not like that. Stubborn and a pain to work with, definitely, but she's a good person." Monisha smiled and Jo raised an eyebrow, but she was a good judge of character. "We've got all of Tanya's phone records and we're using that to find all the other _Humans First_ members in the area."

There were rumours, that they were more organised than their protests suggested, but they'd never found any evidence of it, and if they had a headquarters or main office, they kept that quiet.

Jo sat down on the stairs next to Marcia, waiting for forensics to do their thing. This was the part of the job that she'd always disliked, waiting.

*

Dani had got the bus to Danielle's, even though she had a key to Jo's place, she didn't want to be alone. The cubs were scratching and barking at the door when she knocked and she realised that it might have been best if she'd sent Danielle a message first, but it was too late now.

Danielle was wearing just a dressing gown when she answered the door, the sound of the cubs was muffled,

"Didn't expect to see you back here today, mate."

Dani turned to leave, she wasn't sure why she'd come here, why she was drawn to Danielle. She was sure that it meant she would turn at the full moon, but she didn't have anyone to talk to about it. Not anyone who had answers. It was the not knowing that was torture, even if she was destined to be a werewolf, she'd rather not have to wait to find out.

"Wait, come on in." Danielle held the door open and Dani slunk in, unable to look her in the eyes. "I was just about to put the little ones to bed. Want to help me?"

Dani nodded, not sure if she could talk without tears flowing. Danielle seemed to understand, not a word was said as she warmed up the formula for the cubs, which considering how much Danielle spoke, must have taken a lot of effort on her part.

Danielle sat on the floor of the living room and the cubs came running up, even little Maxine seemed much more lively this evening, and it made tears stream down Dani's face. She fed Maxine, Danielle looked so happy to see her eating, and when the cubs were done feeding they all came over to sit with Dani. Licking at her face until the tears were gone and she was smiling, their soft fur and little yips were just what she needed to cheer her up.

Alex yawned and her sisters started to curl up, making themselves comfy so that they could sleep.

"They should go back into the pen for the night," Danielle said, as she started to pick Alex up but Dani just pouted and held Maxine tighter. "You learn quick, you've already mastered the puppy eyes. I guess it wouldn't hurt if the cubs slept in the bed for one night."

Maxine and Alex were carried up to bed as Carla bounded up the stairs, wagging her tail as though it was all a big adventure. Carla was barely big enough to climb up on the bed and she fell off once, but it didn't stop her trying again, and she curled up with her sisters, wrapping her tail around them as they slept in a pile.

Danielle offered Dani a nightie, a big long t-shirt so that she could be comfy while she slept. But seeing Danielle, and how comfortable she was with nudity, it seemed strange to cover up in front of her. She let her clothes fall in a pile on the floor, and she saw how Danielle looked at her, she'd never thought of herself as beautiful before, but knowing that someone else found her attractive, that was a real boost for her self-confidence.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Danielle asked, once Dani was comfy in bed next to her, a thin blanket covering them both. Dani wanted to tell her everything, how she felt awful for ruining Jo and Marcia's friendship, how it was her fault that Steph had got bitten, and how she had no idea what she would do if she wasn't a police officer. The idea that she would have to deal with being a werewolf _and_ unemployed was more than she could deal with right now.

"I just want it to be over with. I just want to know who I am, what I am."

"You're still you, even if other people don't see it that way." Danielle held her tight, her soft, warm skin brushing against her. It was so comforting to have her close, to feel human again.

*

They'd got a location, from the phone calls and from linking the movements of the people they suspected of being _Humans First_ members. It all led to a residential house, owned by an average couple with ordinary jobs. Hiding in plain sight in one of the suburbs that was mostly humans.

"I want in on this." Jo knew that she was skating on thin ice, arguing with her supervisor but she wanted to help, to see this case through.

"Everything has to be done by the book if this is going to see court, and actually get convictions." Monisha gave Jo a look that said if she pushed her luck, she'd arrest her too, just to stop her messing up the case. "Go home, get some rest. I'll call you once it's done."

Marcia took Jo's hand, dragging her away before she could make the situation any worse for herself. She knew that Monisha was right, but it didn't stop the feeling of impotence. Jo wasn't one to sit back and watch while others did things, she was used to being able to make a difference, and now, the most helpful thing she could do was nothing.

Marcia drove her home, and when they were sat outside her flat, Jo finally asked the question that had been annoying her all night. "What do you have against Dani?" Jo watched as Marcia squirmed in her seat, unable to look her in the eye. "Don't tell me it's just because she's police. We may not like each other, but we back each other up when we need to."

"It's… complicated."

Jo took the car keys off Marcia, not sure if Dani would be in or not, but the car wasn't the place to have a big long conversation. Especially since Jo had been an awful friend lately, leaving Marcia to deal with all this chaos on her own. This sort of talk needed a cup of tea, maybe a biscuit or two, and somewhere they could sit comfortably.

Jo was relieved when she found that the place was empty, hopefully Dani would spend the night at Danielle's, she'd be glad of the help with the little ones.

Marcia sipped at her cup of tea, she'd declined all food even though it was probably early this morning the last time that she ate. Jo let the warm tea comfort her, finally feeling all the tension melt away as she drank the sweet, milky tea.

"Talk to me, please?" Jo reached out for Marcia's hand, intertwining their fingers as she stroked the side of her face.

Marcia leant in for a kiss, lips meeting before Jo realised what was going on and when her mind stopped reeling with all the new information, she finally figured it out. Saw what she had been blind to; that Marcia had feelings for her, and she was in love with Marcia.

Jo deepened the kiss, eating up all of the beautiful moans that fell from Marcia's lips as she moved so that their bodies were closer together, her hands sliding inside Marcia's jumper as she fiddled with the clasp on her bra, freeing her breasts so that she could play with her aroused nipples. Each gasp had her wanting more.

Marcia stood up, and Jo wondered what she'd done wrong, when she saw Marcia stripping off her jeans and knickers, before straddling Jo's face. She hovered above her, waiting for Jo to make the first move.

It was the tiniest flick of the tongue, but the way Marcia moaned had Jo diving in for more. The way she tasted was so arousing, sweet and creamy and salty, like a wonderful dessert. Jo could feel her getting wetter with each lick, her tongue exploring as she figured out what Marcia liked.

She looked up to see Marcia towering over her, eyes screwed shut as she clung onto the armrest of the sofa for support as she rocked back and forth over her mouth, her clit hitting her nose. Jo could feel herself getting wet and she wanted to touch herself, overload her senses with the rush of orgasm. It was awkward but Jo managed it, her fingers rubbing at her clit as Marcia got noisier and noisier.

It wasn't long before she felt the familiar tightness of her impending orgasm, and she dipped her tongue inside Marcia, feeling her muscles flutter as she came, as she gasped through her own climax, barely able to breathe as she was smothered by Marcia, taking it all in as she stroked her back, letting her recover before she curled in next to Jo.

 _I can't believe that I was oblivious to it all, but it was worth the wait,_ Jo thought as she held Marcia close to her.

They kissed for a while, slow, sloppy kisses that left them both breathless again. "We should really get a shower," Jo said, and the way Marcia raised her eyebrow left her with nothing but happy thoughts.

***

Two days had flown by, and now the case was solved with all the instigators in custody, there was a feeling of peace within the team.

Jo had agreed to stay and watch Steph on the night of the full moon, with Dani, which was the perfect cover for the fact that she was going to lock Dani in the other cage. Keva had said that she couldn't bear to watch Steph, and Jo had convinced Marcia to look after her, just in case she did anything. She'd been so shut off lately that she was every bit as much at risk as Steph, more so in fact, since she had access to guns.

As the sun set she locked Dani in the cage next to Steph's, naked apart from a dressing gown.

"Why's she in there?" Steph looked at Jo quizzically and Dani answered her.

"You weren't the only one that got bitten that day." Dani sat down to read her book, it might be a long night, and there was no guarantee that anything would happen.

"You knew all this time and you didn't tell us? She could have transformed early and killed us." Steph didn't sound angry, but her words were short and direct.

"I had it under control." Jo folded her arms, she wasn't sure there was a perfect solution to the problem, but spending three weeks locked in a cage seemed drastic.

Two hours later and Steph hadn't stopped telling Jo how she was wrong, Dani had been drowning most of it out but now she felt strange, her skin felt like it was too tight for her body and her heart was racing.

She cried out in pain as there was a stabbing feeling in her chest, like her lungs were being squeezed and she lay gasping on the floor, wondering what was happening to her.

And then she remembered Danielle's words. _It'll feel like you're dying, but you're not. You just have to breathe and it'll all be okay._

Why had she been too stubborn to let Danielle help? Why had she thought that locking herself away would be the easiest option? But it was too late now.

Another stab of pain ran all along her spine and she crouched on her hands and knees, watching as her bones seemed to rearrange themselves while her skin got furrier. She was going to have amazing sleek brown fur, if she lived to be a wolf.

It felt like her head was going to explode and her heart was beating so fast that it was all a blur. She tried to scream in pain but all that came out was a pitiful sounding howl.

There was a terrifying snap, a final crack of bones and the she felt her breathing return to normal and her vision began to clear. She could see everything, her peripheral vision was much better than it had ever been before and things were sharper, clearer.

She slowly got up on to her feet, paws, before looking around. Jo was crouched down by the cage, at a safe distance, as Steph stared at her in confusion from the next cage. Steph was still very human looking, Dani could smell her fear, it was a sharp smell, acidic and Dani licked her lips.

Jo threw her a biscuit and she caught it without hesitation, chewing it awkwardly with her new fangs.

"Aren't you going to shoot her?" Steph said, and Dani snarled at her. "Why are you feeding her?"

Jo offered Dani another biscuit, from the palm of her hand, and she carefully took it. She wasn't sure if a wolf could look smug, but Dani was definitely trying.

"Do you want a dog biscuit?" Jo asked Steph, "Since you're being such a bitch." Steph gave Jo a disgusted look and Jo threw a biscuit at her, which made Dani snort, a wolf laugh maybe?

There was the clatter of metal as Steph slumped down against the bars, just because she hadn't changed yet, didn't mean that she wouldn't.

A couple of hours passed, Dani and Steph were both dozing and Jo was reading up on the news that she'd missed. She was thinking about making another cup of tea when there was the sound of the door opening. Was Keva back, or was it Marcia checking up on her?

Jo pulled her gun, just in case it was anyone else, she had to protect Dani and Steph. She had her tranq gun in one hand, and her back up in the other. Hopefully she wouldn't have to use either.

Keva burst into the room and Jo relaxed, until she saw where Keva was looking. Dani.

"She's a fucking wolf?" Keva pulled her gun and lined up with Dani, as Jo pointed her gun at Keva.

"And?"

"And you knew? You put us all at risk because you wanted a pet?" Keva didn't take her eyes off Dani, and she was now cowering in the corner of the cage. Steph was pressed up to the bars, she'd have been right at home if she'd had popcorn to enjoy the show with.

"Put the guns down." Marcia's voice made Jo jump, she hadn't realised that she was there. She stepped into the room and Jo took her eyes off Keva for a fraction of a second.

There was a gunshot. The last thing Jo heard was a wolf whimpering, and then everything went black.

*

Jo could feel her heart pounding and there was voices surrounding her but they sounded distant and far away. She couldn't see, and she couldn't hear a wolf.

"Dani?" she screamed, but there was no answer, not one that she could understand. Everything felt vague and she tried to stand up but there was something pushing her down.

Jo felt her stomach squirm, she rolled on to her side and her body heaved, retching and gasping for air but nothing came up.

"It's going to be okay." Marcia's voice, soft as though she was whispering into her ear, and when her vision started to clear she saw that Marcia's forehead was pressed against hers.

"Where's Dani? Is she okay?" She couldn't believe that Keva would do something like that, without knowing Dani's views on the matter.

"Danielle came to get her, she's fine. A little shaken up, but she's not badly injured." Marcia wiped Jo's hair away from her face, her pale blue eyes staring at her. "How are you feeling?"

"Awful. This is like every hangover I've ever had all rolled into one big hangover." Jo cuddled into Marcia, aware that the cold hard floor wasn't helping the aching feeling in her joints but the thought of standing up was dizzying.

As her hearing starting to come back to her, Jo could hear Keva sobbing, repeating the words 'I'm sorry' over and over again.

It was a start, but it would be a long while before Jo could forgive her.

*

Danielle had shown up to Keva and Steph's place to see Dani and Jo unconscious on the floor, and another woman locked in a cage. Dani was completely naked, and Danielle knew that she must have shifted, that this was her back in her human form.

She wanted to rush over to her, but she was scared that it might have been a trap. Danielle had got Linda to look after the cubs, but she was starting to wish that she'd asked some of the other pack members to come with her.

"It's not as bad as it looks." Marcia was holding her hands out, she'd met Danielle once, briefly, and she was hoping that she'd remember her. "Dani's not shot. She transformed into a wolf, but then she changed back to be human when Keva went to shoot her."

"She looks so human," Keva muttered, and Marcia held her close, letting her cry it all out. She'd come so close to shooting Dani, but she'd managed to control herself enough to turn back into her human form, and then collapsed. No doubt with the strain of changing before the moon had set.

"What happened to Jo?" Danielle asked, by the way Jo was drooling she hoped that she was just tranquilised, but she couldn't see her chest move, so was she even breathing?

"Tranqed. She'll come round in an hour or so." Marcia knew that she should feel bad about it, but at least it hadn't been real bullets that Keva had fired, that would have been unthinkable. "I'll make sure she's okay. You should take Dani and get out of here."

Danielle draped a blanket over Dani before picking her up, glad that she was so light. She didn't take her eyes off Marcia and Keva, backing towards the door so that she could see them. Jo may trust those people, but she didn't trust anyone right now.

It wasn't long until she was carrying Dani in the front door of her house, ignoring the scared looks from Linda.

"It's all going to be okay. Just need to get you a nice warm bath and some food." Danielle saw Dani's eyelids flicker and she knew that she'd heard her. Although it was going to be a while before she recovered her strength, shifting back into her human form while the moon was still out, that was tough even for those who were born werewolves, but for a newbie like Dani, she was going to need at least a day to recover.

Danielle lifted Dani into the bath, making sure that she was comfy before handing her a cup with a straw, like the kind that small children are given to stop them spilling their drink. Although the way she felt now, that was probably for the best.

"The warm water should take away the worst of the muscle and joint pain. And this is chocolate milkshake, don't ask me why it works but it does." Danielle's laugh made Dani smile, and she sucked on the straw, letting the milkshake do its job.

Danielle sat by Dani's side, until she was able to open her eyes fully, and able to speak. "Thank you."

"Us wolves have to stick together mate. You're pack now, if you want us that is."

Dani nodded weakly, her arm sloshing into the water after slipping off the side of the bath. She was starting to look like herself again, colour returning to her skin.

"You going to be okay here for a few minutes. Linda probably needs to get her little ones home and to bed. They've got school in the morning, and they're going to be tired enough from transforming."

Danielle left and Dani heard voices, along with a lot of little yips, the cubs must be too young to be in their human form on a full moon night, but she was grateful that Danielle had managed to round up enough fellow wolves to help look after the cubs so that she could come rescue her.

"Jo?" She'd only heard the sound of a gun, Keva had opened the cage and let her out, but she wouldn't leave, didn't want to give her a reason to shoot her. Then Keva had aimed at Jo and she'd tried to leap to her defence.

Danielle came rushing in, Dani hadn't realised that she was yelling and splashing water everywhere.

"Jo's fine, she was tranquilised. She's going to have a nasty headache but she'll live." Danielle rested her forehead against Dani's, waiting for her to relax.

Dani sat in the bath until the water started to get cold. Danielle wrapped her up in the fluffiest dressing gown before helping her to bed, and the exhaustion of the night meant that she was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

***

Jo woke up but she wasn't at home, and she was somewhere far nicer than the floor of Keva and Steph's basement.

"Morning. How are you feeling?" Marcia handed her a cup of tea and just the smell of it had Jo feeling more human.

"Better." Jo sipped at her cup of tea and felt the sugar rush through her body, she couldn't remember the last time that she ate, the nerves of the full moon had ruined her appetite.

Marcia gave her a kiss, and if it wasn't for the fact that her head was still throbbing with the after effects of the tranquiliser, it would have been perfect.

"Dani texted to say that she's fine. Exhausted but fine."

"Good. Keva and Steph?"

Marcia shook her head, she was going to give them some space to cool off before starting the peace talks.

"I need to make a call." Jo stumbled out of bed, heading for the pile of clothes on the floor that looked like hers. "Monisha?"

*

There was someone licking Dani's face and when she opened her eyes she saw Carla trying to wake her up.

"Morning little one."

Carla barked in response and Dani was sure that she understood her. Although if what Danielle had told her was true, the cubs would shift into human form for the first time when they were about a year and a half old, or nine human years, and then they would be able to shift back and forth at will. Even at the full moon, although that took a lot more energy, as Dani had found out first hand.

Dani stood up slowly, pulling a dressing gown around herself before following Carla down to the living room, where Danielle was doing yoga, naked.

"Morning." Dani knew that she shouldn't be staring but she couldn't keep her eyes off Danielle. "Do the cubs need fed?"

"Already done, you needed your sleep." Danielle stood up and she saw Dani's eyes, pupils blown as she bit at her lip.

"I'm sorry." Dani blushed, before heading for the kitchen, unable to look at Danielle.

Carla was stretching up to try and reach the worktop as she made her cup of coffee, and Dani gave her lots of attention before sitting down to check her phone.

"You don't have to be sorry." Danielle was still naked, and Dani wasn't sure what to say, she'd been so focused on work that she'd never found time for a relationship. "I have feelings for you, and they're more than just needing an extra pair of hands to raise three cubs."

Dani laughed, but she couldn't believe that someone like Danielle was interested in her. She looked up at Danielle and she could see that the smile on her face was genuine, although Danielle was always smiling.

Danielle gave her a kiss on the cheek, and it sent warm fuzzy feelings all through her body. Although after last night's experience, the word fuzzy had a whole new meaning for her.

Her phone buzzed and it was a text from Jo.

_Meet me at the SLE headquarters at 4 pm._

No explanation or anything. But Dani knew that she owed Jo, so she was going to have to get a shower and get some food so that she looked less like a zombie.

"Good news?" Danielle asked.

"Maybe?"

*

"Monisha says you've both handed in your notice. Effective immediately." Jo folded her arms, she wasn't sure how things had got this out of hand, but they had.

"Steph and I used to go round hunting wolves, vampires, anything that wasn't human, we'd find it and kill it." Keva's hands were shaking as she talked. "But coming to terms with Steph being one of them and then seeing Dani like that…"

Tears were falling down Keva's face, it was hard realising that what she used to believe was wrong. But at least she'd realised it now, before she did anything to Steph that she couldn't take back. It would never bring back the Others that she had killed, and the fact that it had all been legal back then was proof of just how messed up the world was.

"I don't think I'm the right person for the job anymore, and Steph feels the same. We're going to move away, get a fresh start, do something else." Keva shook her head, and Steph was nowhere to be seen. Although the way Steph had behaved lately, it wasn't a surprise that she didn't want to show her face.

Jo knew this day would come, especially now that it looked like the law was going to pass that let Others serve as law enforcement. That would see a lot of the force quitting, but they were the ones that they needed to loose, if they were ever going to lose their reputation as Exterminators.

"I'm going to miss you two." Jo gave Keva a hug for the last time, this was for the best, and hopefully they could find their own way forward.

*

Marcia had Jo pressed up to the wall in the bathroom, their lips locked as their hands wandered. Since they'd confessed their feelings for each other they'd been unable to separate themselves. Although with not being back on duty yet, they didn't have much else to do.

There was a cough, and Jo broke the kiss to see Monisha standing there with a smile on her face. "I see the no dating between team members is being adhered to."

"Yes, boss." Jo straightened her uniform and wiped the smudge of lipstick from the corner of Marcia's mouth.

"Meeting's in five. Dani's here." Monisha left without a word, although she had a smirk on her face.

"Do you think this is going to work?" Marcia asked, once they were alone.

"I hope so."

***

"How does it feel to be the first werewolf serving in law enforcement?"

Dani was surrounded by reporters, she didn't really like it but she knew that it was important that she was seen. Not just for the good publicity for SLE, but for all the Others out there who dreamed of working in law enforcement.

It hadn't been made law yet, but Jo had found a loophole that allowed Dani to keep her job, and get a transfer to SLE. Although Others couldn't join the police, there was nothing that stopped officers who were made Other after they were hired from keeping their jobs. Oversight, no doubt, on the part of those who made the rules, and a lot of the rules were from a time when the hunters still roamed the city without impunity.

"I'm proud to be able to serve my city and my community." Dani kept smiling, even though she was sure that it looked forced, but she had Jo and Monisha sitting with her, which made it tolerable.

"Do you think this will help change the law so that all Others can apply to be officers?"

"I hope so."

Dani was sure that the law would pass, there were many groups pressuring the government to make sure that it happened, but she didn't want to say that, for she had no idea how long any of it would take to actually come in to effect.

But now that she was the face of the Others, she was glad to have Danielle and the cubs by her side, to come home to each night.

***

In the end it had only taken a couple of months for Others to be allowed to serve in law enforcement. And for all the protests beforehand, no-one saw any difference. In fact, in a lot of communities there was an overall improvement, as beings no longer feared the police, so it was easier to keep order.

Jo was holding Marcia's hand, sitting on the grass, as Dani held the leads for the cubs who were all trying to drag her closer so that they could watch the ball.

Linda's cubs were playing football and she was screaming encouragement from the side-lines as the rest of them cheered from the crowd. Cali was petting Alex and feeding her treats, she was the newest addition to the team, and the four of them got on well.

"This is going to be them soon. In their human form and going to school," Dani said to the cubs, as they played with their sisters, all crowding around Cali with the biscuits.

"I can't believe you're mother to three cubs now." Jo looked at Dani with pride, she thought of her as a little sister, she'd handled her situation with grace, and now she had a wonderful life, and Danielle was the perfect mate to raise cubs with.

"I wouldn't change it for the world."

**Author's Note:**

> *and obviously none of this actually happened, it is all a figment of my twisted imagination ;)


End file.
